Posted by Jon​We’ve often used the analogy that managing a proposal is like conducting an orchestra. I’ve also been known to observe that far too many proposal managers focus far too much on the document and the project plan, rather than on leading the people in the team. And so I enjoyed the following quote from a recent interview in the Times with soccer manager Andre Villa-Boas, which rather drew the strands together:

“Being a manager is all about emotions. It’s about conveying passion, but also about being able to identify how other people feel, and how to be able to deal with that.I remember hearing that there was a maestro from the Boston Philharmonic whose biggest breakthrough was realising that he didn’t actually make any sound himself; only his players did. He had to lead them, but he could only do it by harnessing their emotions. The same applies to football managers…”